DOL Issues Major Updates To Davis-Bacon Regulations

On August 8, 2023, the Department of Labor issued a Final Rule that makes significant changes to contractor and subcontractor obligations on federal and federally-assisted construction projects. Contractors who perform work under projects covered by the Davis-Bacon Act should become familiar with their new obligations.

We have summarized below some of the key provisions of the Final Rule. They are as follows:

• Updated definition of "prevailing wage." The DOL departed from the definition of "prevailing wage" used for nearly 40 years. The Final Rule now identifies a wage as prevailing if it is paid to a majority of workers, or, if no wage rate is paid to a majority of workers, then it is prevailing if it is the rate paid to at least 30% of workers. Then, if no wage rate is paid to 30% of workers, the prevailing wage is the weighted average of all rates paid to workers in that classification. While this is a significant departure from previous methodology – and